Nick Tomaino is the founder of 1confirmation — a crypto-focused early-stage venture fund — who previously led business development at Coinbase starting in 2014 (when it was a small startup), developed deep relationships with the Ethereum ecosystem during its early development, launched 1confirmation in 2017 with backing from Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and others, and has since published “The Control” newsletter covering crypto protocol economics, decentralized governance theory, and early-stage web3 investment thesis.
Background
Nick Tomaino graduated from Boston University and had a background in business and finance before entering the cryptocurrency space. He joined Coinbase in 2014 — a period when Coinbase was still an early-stage company with a team of dozens rather than thousands, and when Bitcoin itself was emerging from the Mt. Gox collapse aftermath.
His role at Coinbase in business development meant he was at the center of the emerging institutional and venture capital interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum infrastructure and had direct exposure to the Ethereum founding community.
Coinbase
Tomaino worked at Coinbase during a formative period (2014-2017):
- During this time, Coinbase grew from a small San Francisco startup into the leading U.S. Bitcoin exchange.
- Ethereum launched (2015) and Coinbase added ETH support.
- The ICO boom began building in 2016-2017.
- Tomaino was building relationships with venture funds, institutional investors, and protocol teams that would later become 1confirmation’s network.
1confirmation
Tomaino founded 1confirmation in 2017 as a seed-stage crypto investment firm. Key facts:
- Investors in 1confirmation’s fund include: Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures), Brad Burnham (USV), and other prominent tech/crypto investors.
- Investment philosophy: Early-stage, conviction-based bets on protocols and applications that Tomaino believes will be foundational to the decentralized web. Focus on Ethereum ecosystem and Layer 2s.
- Portfolio has included investments in Augur (decentralized prediction markets), Compound, Opyn, and other DeFi and web3 infrastructure projects.
The Control Newsletter
Tomaino publishes “The Control” — a newsletter on crypto protocol governance, economics, and investment theory. Notable essay themes:
- Decentralized governance — How on-chain governance of protocols best serves their long-term health and decentralization.
- Fat Protocol thesis — Engaging with Joel Monegro’s “fat protocol” argument about where value accrues in blockchain stack (protocol layer vs. application layer).
- Web3 vision — The case for user ownership of data and assets in a decentralized internet.
Key Dates
- 2014 — Joins Coinbase in business development.
- 2017 — Founds 1confirmation; backs first fund with USV’s Fred Wilson and others.
- 2018–2022 — Active early-stage investments across DeFi, NFT infrastructure, and web3 protocols.
- Ongoing — Publishes The Control newsletter on protocol economics.
Common Misconceptions
- “1confirmation is a large institutional fund.” — 1confirmation is a small, conviction-based seed-stage fund. It is explicitly not a multi-billion dollar crossover vehicle. The model is concentrated bets on early-stage projects, not diversified institutional portfolio management.
- “Nick Tomaino was Coinbase’s CEO or founder.” — He was an employee in business development, not a founder. Coinbase was founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in 2012; Tomaino joined in 2014.
Last updated: 2026-04